


Shut Up

by w_space



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, Eventual love confession, Insecurity, M/M, Not MCU compliant, Protective Stephen Strange, Protective Tony Stark, accidental magic, temporary mute Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27148405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w_space/pseuds/w_space
Summary: Okay, so maybe speaking a wish out loud in a room filled to the brim with magical relics hadn’t been the best idea. Stephen regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.“I wish you’d justshut up-”[Discontinued.]
Relationships: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 28
Kudos: 147





	Shut Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #528 (@ironstrangeprompts)  
> Okay, so maybe speaking a wish out loud in a room filled to the brim with magical relics hadn’t been the best idea.

Okay, so maybe speaking a wish out loud in a room filled to the brim with magical relics hadn’t been the best idea…

Stephen regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. 

To his defense, he had been quite stressed. Hadn’t had sleep for the last 48 hours, hardly ate anything since god knows when, spent the last bit of energy he had chasing a long lost relic through several dimensions. Once the sorcerer returned, all he wanted was to catalog the relic, find a proper place for it at the sanctum, then go to sleep. 

But well, apparently he had a visitor.

Any other day, he wouldn’t mind Tony’s presence. The opposite really. Ever since his run-in with the Avengers and on and off working with the near celebrated band of heroes of New York, he and Tony had spent quite a bit of time together.

~~He may have a bit of a crush on the billionaire but that was another, not important, story altogether.~~

They got along well for the most part. Both incredibly smart-mouthed and sharp-tongued. They effortlessly played off each other’s energy. A lot of banter and intelligent conversation. 

~~A crush that he swears isn't serious. He'll get over it. soon.~~

~~Wong doesn't believe him.~~

Just that today… 

His temper got the better of him.

He was so frustrated, so tired. Stephen doesn’t even remember what exactly Tony was going on about this time. Vaguely remembers it being a rant about his teammates. As much as he likes Tony, sometimes the brunette could be utterly infuriating and enjoys testing the patience of everyone around him. 

Stephen tried to leave the room, implied the other should leave, as he was busy. But as usual, Tony followed him around the sanctum like a puppy. All the way to the room that housed dozens of relics that Stephen has yet to completely sort through. 

And then…

“I wish you’d just _shut up_ -”

Stephen had a hand to his face, eyes closed shut in a grimace trying to will down a headache.

But after a long pause silence, he couldn’t help but look up, blinking quickly. 

Wrong. Something was wrong. 

Because no matter how harshly he snapped, the idea that Tony would actually shut up was… just not right.

His outbursts never intimidated Tony. That was one of the things Stephen had always been so grateful for. Not many could handle his temperament and being so careful of his tone, expression, his harsh words 24/7 can be exhausting. 

But right now… there was complete silence. 

He turned slowly, facing the brunette once more. “Tony…?”

* * *

“How did this even happen?”

“It was… an accident.”

“This is one hell of an accident, Strange. How long will this last for?”

“…Unsure. But I will try to reverse this as soon as possible-“

“Wait… Do you even know how to fix this?!”

Tony stood silently as he watched the scene play out in front of him.

Not by choice.

Turns out he couldn’t say a single word anymore. Not even a peep.

They had tried to be discrete when they came to the Avengers compound. Or at least Tony had been. For this very reason, in fact. But, well, it didn’t exactly take long before someone realized something was odd when they ran into Tony and the billionaire didn’t speak a word. And it was a domino from there.

Now, basically the whole team was in the common room. The whole team plus one Sorcerer Supreme. And of course, someone just _had_ to run to the Captain.

It was laughable really. The way Steve had his arms crossed, so transparently distraught as he interrogated the good doctor. 

As if he, Tony, and Steve, didn’t just have a spectacular argument this morning during an early meeting. Honestly, Tony was quite sure Stephen had not been the first one today to wish the resident billionaire would _just shut up_.

So… argument could be made this was Steve’s fault. If they didn’t get into a fight this morning, Tony wouldn’t have ended up at Stephen’s doorstep to bitch about it... again. Wouldn’t have annoyed the doctor into losing his temper and-…

Okay. Fine. It was a stretch. Tony knew he was being petty. He may be still a bit salty from this morning.

Technically, Tony knows Steve is just in the “leader-mode” right now. The Captain just found out one of his team members, the team he is basically in charge of, sort of got… maimed... by some magic mumbo jumbo. He probably thinks he’s defending Tony. Maybe it’s even partially guilt from this morning.

If it was any other situation, Tony may be amused by this. Feel warm and fuzzy to know that even when most of the time they exasperated each other, when it came down to it, Steve would care like this.

Really, Tony would smugly be cherishing this moment… if it weren’t for the fact one getting the heat was… Stephen.

For once, Stephen isn’t standing tall but his gaze lowered...

Was that guilt Tony sees? Yep. That’s probably it.

Why Stephen wasn’t insisting, pressing further about the fact this was very much an accident. The good doctor probably is blaming himself for the whole situation. Hence, why he’s suffering through the lecturing from Captain America that, quite frankly, he never had the patience for.

That was the thing. Unlike many of the team or members of SHIELD or just about most of New York, the Sorcerer Supreme seemed to not give a crap about Steve being the Captain America. Didn’t put the man on a pedestal. Stephen held his ground, called Steve out when needed, didn’t cut him any slack, even took Tony’s side on several occasions. Tony always liked that part about Stephen Strange.

But right now…

The usually proud doctor was mostly silent. The expression he was wearing was really gnawing at Tony. It just screamed wrong.

Now that he thought about it the sorcerer seemed to be avoiding meeting everyone's eyes... including Tony's. Even with his insistence on their way here that he would figure this out, vowing that he will not rest till he do… Stephen seemed to be avoiding his gaze.

That…

Something in Tony snapped.

Before he knew it, he stood in between Stephen and the Captain. He glared right up at Steve, opening his mouth automatically… only to remember.

He gritted his teeth, roughly running his fingers through his hair.

“Tony,” Steve was saying, his voice less harsh than before. “Calm down… Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out somehow.”

And that would have been fine if he left it at that. But when Tony glanced back up, he saw the blonde clearly glaring somewhere over his shoulder at…

It was childish. Tony knew it. But he was mad and he just wanted to show it somehow. And apparently, the solution his brain came up with was to stump on the Captain’s left foot as hard as he could.

“OW!”

A bit away, Bucky snorted out a laugh. Sam and Clint let out unison _oh_ but looked just as amused as Nat. Thor outright broke into a laugh and Bruce was trying to hide his face.

Steve was soon leaning against the wall to support himself. “Tony! What the hell!”

But with another glare, he turned right around. Oh hey, at least Stephen was looking at him directly again. Howbeit, a bit wide-eyed. But he’d take it.

Tony quickly grabbed hold of the sorcerer’s wrist, dragging him away with him.

* * *

Stephen didn’t know what to do with himself.

He stood pacing back and forth as Tony was darting about for a moment, seeming to be manually locking the door to the lab and inputting other orders that usually would be given verbally. Half of him wanting to follow the brunette closely and the other simply wanted to hide.

And when the other turned towards him, once again the doctor broke into an apology.

“Tony… I’m… I’m sorry. I swear I’ll fix this-”

But he stopped. Tony was motioning to him.

Although, just a split second later, seemed to have already lost his patience. Simply darting over and pulling Stephen along to the main work desk.

Then, after typing furiously, Tony turned one of the monitors towards him.

_“Stop apologizing. It’s fine. It was an accident. And I know you’ll figure this out in the end. For now, I already have ideas on temporary solutions,”_ it read.

Stephen lowered his gaze, swallowing hard. But soon, Tony was tapping at his arms to look back up.

_“Seriously. Stop. And don’t mind what Steve said. Trust me, you are not the first one to tell me today to shut up.”_

He frowned. That… didn’t exactly make him feel any better.

But as if sensing where he was going, Tony rolled his eyes, typing some more.

_“You were not listening to me earlier were you?”_

“I…” God, he really wanted to disappear then and there.

_“…Do you usually not listen to me?”_

“No-” he said quickly, grimacing. “I swear I… do. I really do. …It’s… just today, Tony. I’m… I was just so exhausted and…”

_“Yeah. You look it.”_

“I’ll figure this out, okay? Just give me some time and I’ll-“

But Tony was tapping at him again.

_“Rest first.”_

He let out a sigh, shaking his head. “Tony-“

_“Seriously, doc, I’m not dying or anything. Look. Being mute for a day or two longer isn’t going to kill me. I’m sure everyone here may even enjoy the quiet.”_

He wanted to argue, he really did. But as his gaze locked with the hazel brown, Stephen wasn’t sure he could muster the energy.

“…Alright. Just a couple hours of rest and I’ll get on this…” With that, the sorcerer tried to move, lifted his hands to conjure a portal…

Only for a hand to stop him.

He glanced at Tony questioningly. Although, the odd thing was the brunette appeared equally as confused.

Stephen wasn’t exactly sure what was going on Tony’s head but something briefly flashed in the other’s expression. Something he couldn’t quite put a label on.

Another pause, darting of gaze, then Tony sharply turned to the keyboard, typing.

_“Stay here? That couch actually pulls out into a bed. It’s actually quite comfortable. I mean that’s the only way I can be sure you’ll actually rest you know? And not just get right to working.”_

There was another brief moment of silence. Stephen didn’t say anything, trying to read the situation.

But Tony wasn’t looking at him anymore, eyes fixed on the keyboard, fingers flexing.

And just as he tried to go back to typing, Stephen stopped him.

“I’ll stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aiming for like 2-3 short chapters but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> my sort of insomnia project
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/_w_space) | [tumblr](https://wspaceblog.tumblr.com/)  
> 


End file.
